You might examine the gambling and gambling industry and believe there is a whole lot of healthy rivalry, with hundreds of brands now vying for our pennies. Many companies however, though they might seem independent, are in fact component of the same group, and you’ll likely never know it. Like many markets, there are in fact a few large players and the remainder are left to scramble for the remainder of the habit.
It isn’t only the old high street bookies like William Hill and Betfred that occupy the top places from the largest gaming business leagues. Many early online only bookmakers have already beaten the older land based operators, such as Bet365, and the world’s largest and first online exchange, Betfair. Mergers between already huge companies such as Ladbrokes and Coral and Betfair and Paddy Power has generated behemoth bookies. The future of bookmaking in the UK is in the equilibrium as it risks getting a monopoly of a very few massive companies, very much like the energy markets.
In this report we also look at the progression of the UK gambling industry, the dimensions of the gains made along with the progressive switch to online betting and gambling.
Largest CompaniesUK Market ShareUK Market SizeEvolution of GamblingMergers
Largest Betting Companies Ladbrokes-Coral Group Plc (owned by GVC Holdings)
Ranking 1
Headquarters
London
Revenue
#2.5 Billion
Employees 30000
High Street Shops
4000
Launched 2016 (Merger)
ladbrokes-coral
William Hill were ousted from top spot following the merger at 2016 of Britain’s second and third biggest bookmakers in 2015, finished 2016. The new firm, imaginatively named Ladbrokes-Coral Plc, generates almost #2.5 billion in revenue each year and employees over 30,000 people and is listed on the FTSE 250.
In 2018 the new group was farther bought by GVC in a deal worth around #4 billion, including further capability to the brand on an global scale. GVC also own and run websites like sportingbet (although we would not recommend them to wager with), partypoker and Bwin.
Ladbrokes, Britain’s oldest betting company founded in 1886, and Coral, based at the 1926, have over 200 years experience of being a bookmaker involving them. The group own almost 4000 gambling stores, although were forced to market over 300 in the merger, and so are two of the most recognisable brands in the high street.
Coral, began by Joe Coral an online bookmaker in the 1920’s, grew immediately after legalisation of off-course betting shops in 1961, becoming one of the very first bookies to make the most. Merging with another company in 1971 to become Coral Leisure the team was obtained by Bass in 1981. In 1997 Ladbrokes made their first attempt to purchase Coral from Bass but that was blocked by the UK Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the moment. Coral was sold to Morgan Grenfell, a private equity firm in 1999 and merged with Eurobet, among the very first online betting sites, in precisely the same calendar year. Gala bingo, founded in 1991 and functioning over 150 halls with an additional online presence, united with ghostly in 2005 to form the Gala Coral Group.
Ladbrokes was started by two men who acted as a commission agents for horses (trained in Ladbroke Hill). After a move to London in the early 20th century that the company became a bookmaker for rich customers. Falling on harder times after WWII the company was sold for just #100,000. The identical legalisation of betting shops that drove Coral’s rise in 1961 however reversed the fortunes of Ladbrokes too, who were later floated on the stock exchange for #1M in 1966. With forays into the hotel (Hilton Group) and home advantage industry the Ladbrokes team grew to next largest UK bookmaker. Prior to their Coral merger Ladbrokes also acquired BETDAQ, the second biggest betting exchange, 2013.
The team now generate over a third of their gains from electronic sources and between them have more online customers than any other business. For much more about every brand visit our full reviews.
Ladbrokes Review Coral Review
William Hill Plc
Ranking 2
Headquarters
London
Revenue
#1.7 Billion
Workers 16000
High Street Shops
2300
Launched 1934
william-hill
For a long time William Hill would be the biggest betting company in the UK with over 2300 shops and only under #2 billion in yearly revenues. The operator, that currently generates up to #200 million in yearly earnings and can be listed on the FTSE 250, comes from humble beginnings.
In 1934 the company was founded by Mr William Hill, who after some early failures and illegal ventures found he could make money using a loophole that allowed off-course betting using credit or post. Hill’s entered into the gaming store industry, starting their first five years following the change in law in 1966, due to the founders belief they were a cancer to society. He relented when he noticed how fast his opponents were getting ahead.
The business changed ownership several times down the years. Bought for #700 million in 1997, the brand has been sold two years after for 825 million and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2002.
The William Hill group have had some corporate failures over the years but their competitive approach, especially online, has allowed them to control the market landscape. Probably the most well known bookmaker in the world, largely down to the reality Hill’s have spread out the UK more than any other bookie, and due to their vast amount they spend on advertising and sponsorship.
William Hill Review William Hill Casino Review
Paddy Power Betfair Plc
Ranking 3
Headquarters
Dublin
Revenue
#1.75 Billion
Employees 8000
High Street Shops
600 (UK + I)
Launched 2016 (Merger)
paddy-power-betfair
Many mergers are merely about money. Coral did not really bring anything new to Ladbrokes for example, but also the merger between Betfair and Paddy Power in 2016 to make the third biggest gambling brand was certainly mutually beneficial to both parties.
Paddy Power, one of Ireland’s largest bookmakers, was founded in 1988 but it was the online age that really saw the newest come to life through its often controversial advertising approaches. Holding over 600 stores across the UK and Ireland and boasting retail earnings of almost #1 billion Paddy Power brought the real world locations, advertising strategy and money to the merger.
Betfair on the other hand had a very distinct history in the gambling industry. Launching as a peer-peer betting exchange as opposed to a traditional bookie in 2000, Betfair became the biggest of its kind in no time in any way. Despite better odds on offer in the market, the industry still remains fairly modest (see later) and so in order to compete Betfair launched a fixed odds sports publication in 2011. Betfair would be the smaller party in the merger, making less than #500 million in revenue. Because of this PP shareholders received 52% and Betfair 48% of the new firm.
Paddy Power Review Betfair Review
Bet365 Group Ltd
Ranking 4
Headquarters
Stoke-on-Trent
Revenue
#2.3 Billion
Workers 3500
High Street Shops
None
Launched 2000
Bet365
Bet365 meteoric rise has all come form the electronic industry, and considering that just today is the online gambling market larger than the high street (excluding national lottery) which is a pretty impressive performance. When they say in their advents which Bet365 is the worlds favorite online betting company they really are not lying.
Launched in 2000 from a small temporary building in Stoke by now multi-billionaire Denise Coates, Bet365 currently generates massive online revenues and is the largest private company in Stoke. They own the football stadium.
Denise started the business by borrowing from her fathers brick and mortar bookmaking company, established in 1974 from Stoke City chairman Peter Coates. Selling off the stores to Coral in 2005 Bet365 became an increasingly online only operator where they have gained a huge customer base of over 20+ million people from 200 countries. The brand has the best reputation inside the betting and gaming sector from the punters and insiders and boasts among the most loyal customer bases of any business.
Often cited as a success story of British internet business, if you should rule out the offline gambling sector then these guys are the greatest. Multi-award winnings and constantly developing new technology and ideas that the only way this organization is going in the long run is up.
Bet365 Review
Betfred
Ranking 5
Headquarters
Warrington
Revenue
#800 Million
Employees 1000
High Street Shops
1650
Launched 1967
Betfred
The Betfred travel to getting one of the largest independent betting companies in the UK is more heart-warming than others. Established from one shop in Salford by Fred that an Peter Done in 1967, the group now have a multi-billion turnover and up to #1 billion in revenues annually. Based in Warrington the company hasn’t been sold or merged and stays in the same hands as it started in.
Fred Done is famous in particular for paying our ancient on Manchester United to win the league double only for them shed on both occasions (1998 and 2012). In addition, he lost #1,000,000 in a private bet with Victor Chandler (proprietor of BetVictor) betting again on Man United, this opportunity to complete higher than Chelsea in 2005 – they didn’t. Despite these misjudgements Fred is also known for inventing the Lucky 15 along with other full cover bets.
The company has a sizable betting shop operation, and since purchasing around 300 shops that Ladbrokes-Coral have been forced to sell now own in the area of 1650 shops in the united kingdom. Famous for being one of the very best racing bookmakers Betfred improved their exposure in this market by purchasing the bag in 2011 for #265. This permits them to enable totepool bets to other operators as well as supplying bespoke bag bets others do not have. Despite this Betfred’s future seems mixed and will probably hinge on how well they develop on the internet in the coming years.
Betfred Review
888 Holdings Plc
Position 6
Headquarters
Gibraltar
Revenue
#600 Million
Employees 1600
High Street Shops
None
Established 1997
888-holdings
888 is a thoroughly modern gambling company, there’s absolutely no romantic rear story here. Now part of a rather convoluted corporate structure, 888 Holdings is your gambling arm of parent firm Cassava Enterprises. Initially founded as Virtual Holdings conducting an early casino website, casino-on-net, by two Israeli company guys, the business grew in step with the development of the internet.
The newest was renamed 888 in 2002 and despite taking a hard hit when online gaming became illegal in many US lands in 2006 has continued to grow in every area of online gambling. The group run a sport (888 Sport) and poker site (888 Poker) and several casino (e.g. 888 casino, 777 casino)) and bingo brands (e.g. 888 bingo, 888 ladies, Wink Bingo) with a distribution of 61 percent casino, 18% poker, 11% game and 9% bingo.
888 really are a global online specialist which will only increase in the future. The business was fined almost #8M from the gaming commission in 2017 for failure to correctly shield vulnerable gamblers in the UK. This will slow down the aggressive development plan of the company, although only slightly.
888 Sport Review 888 Casino Review
Kindred Group (Unibet, 32Red, Stan James, et al)
Position 7
Headquarters
Malta
Revenue
#800 Million
Workers 1400
High Steet Shops
100 (Stan James)
Launched 1997
Kindred
Kindred is a title that you will likely not have heard of, it is in reality the rebranding of the older Unibet Group Plc following the purchase of more than a dozen other brands.
Quickly becoming one of the biggest betting businesses in Britain and Europe the Kindred group comprises Stan James, 32Red, Bingo.com and Maria. Unibet is of course the jewel in the crown, the brand has grown to become one of the biggest online gaming websites with over 15 million customers.
The future goal of the brand is apparent in their recent history of takeovers, paying #19 million for Stan James (which contains a brand new real world existence ) and #175 million for the best rated online casino 32Red.
Unibet Review 32Red Casino Review
Market Share And Gambling Revenue Distribution
UK offline and online gambling market share
The pie charts above show an overall representation of the supply of gambling revenue in the UK. Offline gambling is still the largest sector as this include the national lottery (28 percent ), in contrast to high street bookies (27 percent ) and land-based casinos (5 percent ) only online gambling is bigger (40%). The tendency in offline to online is expected to continue in the future.
Within the internet marketplace casino is the biggest (slots 37% and other games 15 percent ), followed by with sports (40%). Exchange gambling (3%), online poker (2%) and online bingo (2%).
The Size Of The UK Gambling Industry
The united kingdom gambling industry currently generates roughly #15 billion in annual revenues and is increasing rapidly at up to 8% per year. Of this total over a third (Number 5 billion +) is created from online gambling, using a demanding split of 60 percent casino and 40% sports gambling.
The industry as a whole is to blame for contributing approximately #8 billion into the UK treasury every year and directly employs over 100,000 individuals (possibly up to 500,000 in the event that you include indirect workers ).
High Street Bookmakers And Land Bases Casinos
Distribution of high street gaming venuesDespite the continuous change towards online betting because the turn of the millennium there are still around 9000 betting shops in the UK (90 percent of which can be controlled by Coral, William Hill, Ladbrokes and Betfred), 600 bingo halls, and 1800 arcades and 150 land-based casinos (63 possessed by the Rank Group and 41 by Genting). There are currently in the region of 200,000 gaming machines worked in the UK also, of which approximately 40,000 are the controversial fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The National Lottery (along with other lottery) earnings are also included in the overall gambling earnings figure. This constitute to #3.5 billion of this total, with in the region of #250 million going back to good causes.
High street bookmaking is liable for a similar amount, #3.5 billion yearly, claiming over 95 percent of their non-remote gambling earnings in the united kingdom. Pool gambling (like the Tote) makes up 4 percent with different resources, such as on-track bookies, making up just 1 percent.
Land-based casinos generate #1 billion in annual profits. Just under half of this stems from roulette (44%), a quarter from blackjack (25 percent ), a fifth (20%) form slots and other digital games and the remainder from various other games and tables.
Online Betting And Casino
Sports betting distribution in the UKApproximately 57 percent of internet gambling earnings comes from remote casinos. Of this 3 quarters derives in slots, with the rest coming from table along with other games (an opposite trend to land based casinos). Poker, that can be classified under casino, generates less than 2% of their entire revenue.
Sports betting is the second biggest industry, producing up to 37% of the overall earnings. Of this around 54% stems from soccer gambling, around 32% from horse racing and the remainder from other resources (of which tennis makes up almost half).
Other sources of revenue include exchange gambling (~3%), online bingo (~3%) and pool betting (~0.5%).
In 2014 the online sector made up 29% of the total market share, by 2016 that had grown to 32%. By 2020 the industry could approach 50% of annual earnings generated from gambling related actions in the UK.
Evolution Of High Street To Internet Betting
Apart from the peculiar independent bookie and a number of the stalls you visit at racecourses, all bookmakers now provide online gambling. Obviously, it did not utilized to be this way, and before the online era breaking into the sector was easier said than done. For a complete history of gambling see our dedicated page.
Pre-1960’S
Prior to 1960 from the UK it was prohibited to take bets from horse and greyhound tracks. Betting was heavily regulated by the government and although illegal operators did exist, overall you’d find it hard to place a wager away from the track.
Bookies did take bets off-course through loop-holes in the law that enabled bets to be obtained by phone or via postal order. This is the way William Hill started out. In the event that you were rich enough needless to say there were always choices open to you, Ladbrokes for example started out as a gentleman’s bookmaker for high profile customers. If you were however a normal working-class lad or lass nevertheless, there were quite a few choices open to you.
Even then most betting at the time was for dog and horse racing only. Football gambling was largely outlawed, except for non stakes pool gambling syndicate games, such as the football pools (which still exists now ).
Basically before 1960 betting was not very simple as you had to attend some race-track to do it (or do it in a rear street gaming den). That is unless you were rich once the law didn’t really apply to you and you may bet through discreet retailers.
1960 Betting And Gaming Act And Betting Shops
Gambling shopIn 1960 the government eventually embraced the new age. Normal folks had more disposable income in their pockets and they wanted more freedom with how to invest their money. The gambling act for the first time allowed off-course gaming and from the next year, May 1961, a whole host of new betting shops opened throughout the length of the nation in a rate of 100 per week.
Betting was largely restricted to horse racing, with principles set up such as the’trebles principle’ on soccer. This meant all of footy bets necessary to be accumulators with at least 3 or more selections otherwise you couldn’t wager. The only sport you could place singles on was rushing.
Still this new sector was embraced by the people of Britain, sowing the seed which eventually resulted in the UK becoming the largest gaming nation (per head) on earth.
One of the first people to open these new betting shops was Joel Coral and 10,000 stores are reported to have started within the initial 6 months. Ironically the UK’s now largest high street bookie, William Hill, originally refused to start gambling shops, saying they were a cancer on society. He also reneged at 1966.
1970s And 1980s
The bookmaker industry grew exponentially over the decades after legalisation of high street betting. From the 1970’s there have been 15,000 stores in the uk.
Here is the time when many of the largest names we know today made and solidified their reputation. Britain’s oldest bookmakers, Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral were earning so much they even started to invest in other leisure sectors.
1990’S
Despite the enormous success of high street bookies from the previous 3 decades the industry had a restricted clientele. The huge majority of punters using betting shops were working class men and the reputation of stores as being dark dens filled with smoke and foul language didn’t help to change this.
Bookies sought to create a bigger customer base by introducing new features, such as live game in shops and new football coupons to promote more diverse clients and bets. The removal of the’trebles rule’ on soccer in 1990’s went a great way towards helping the bookies branch out, together with punters now able to back singles on a selection of sports.
A progressively better image, wider range of stakes and markets, more televised sports (particularly Premier League football) and also an ever-increasing disposable earnings, saw the bundles of bookmakers rise again.
By the mid-1990’s the industry seemed locked down with five enormous companies dominating the landscape, together with a couple of independents across the nation. Many believed gambling and gaming would be like this forever. That was until the internet came along.
New Millennium And The Internet Online betting 2As that the 1990’s brought to a close a brand new threat started to emerge into the older established order, online betting. This was more dangerous to the established high street bookies than you might imagine.
High road bookmaking was controlled by different betting and gaming acts and much more importantly stakes were taxed (9p/#1 staked). Online gambling however was a little bit like the wild west, so you can essentially set up in which you wanted, launch a site and start accepting bets from clients — tax free.
Although preventing tax on gambling stakes and winnings was in the time technically illegal it was almost impossible to police. New firms along with the old high street bookies began to set up new sites, largely based off coast in Gibraltar or Malta, to take advantage of the tax free trade (most are still based there now ).
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s the industry share online was very low and even though the new unregulated online commerce was a concern that it wasn’t widespread enough to cause changes yet. The bookies were making enough from the high street though taxation avoiding new brands were taking a slice of their profits.
Victor Chandler And Tax
In 1999 Victor Chandler (currently BetVictor) moved his bookmaking company off coast to Gibraltar in protest in the gambling tax rates in the united kingdom, selling his 41 stores to Coral. This enabled Victor to supply betting opportunities to world-wide clients, especially from Asia, without paying UK tax. It also allowed UK punters to bet with no even paying the 9p/# stake tax.
It’s thought it was this decision that directed the then UK chancellor, Gordon Brown, to remove the betting tax in 2001. Saying that although he eliminated the tax paid directly by the punter new taxes were imposed on the bookies profits earned in the united kingdom and by this stage the ship had largely sailed and many conventional bookies were conducting their online operation from overseas.
2005 Gambling Act
gambling act 2005
Eventually the government realised that the status quo couldn’t continue forever. This {wasn’t|was not
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